Hi everyone..... I live in Port Townsend, WA, on the Olympic Penninsula. My wife and I want to take a Winter vacation in the general areas of Utah and Idaho. Since I just purchased my '08 Prius in June, the logistics of driving in ice and snow has never been an issue. Upon checking with the Parts Dept., of my local dealer, I was advised that Toyota recommends that no traction device be used on a Prius. Since we'll be driving areas that traction devices will be required, this news was unacceptable. I cannot believe that my fellow Prius owners living in the Northern climates, park their car in the Winter. In checking with previous threads, I cannot find anything that would address my favorite: Traction cables. Some replies warn of potential threats to the transmission, while my local dealer warns of issues dealing with ABS and Tire Sensors. I can use some advise.
I think your local dealer is wierd! Living in CA I do not have much experience aside from last Winter in Reno. I experienced no problem, but the snow was minimal. On this same page is a thread ( or the previous) detailing problems encountered with snow and how to drive. It looks pretty good. Edit: The thread is on the main forum, titled: "Unbelievable poor performance on snow"
Here is a page from the 2007 Owners Manual on using Tire Chains. It is page 411 in the 07 manual; it is probably the same in the 08 manual or a page or two different. I'd say your parts guy is overconfident and underinformed. Kind of a bad combination when you need information.
